HAPPY CHILDREN

This is a vast generalization (and dozens of exceptions leap to my mind), but it seems to me that here in India the children are so intensely happy, both the packs of uniformed school kids, and the poor kids washing themselves in buckets or playing with puppies in the street. And then there are many fun-loving groups of young men (not as many women) holding hands, riding three to a scooter, taking pictures of each other. They shake your hand, they ask you questions, they strut around in their embroidered jeans. Even at work the young men seem to be having a lot of fun. But then once they hit middle-age, the Indian men (not all, obviously, but a noticeable bunch) seem so gruff and rude. They push people out of their way, they will not step aside, they scowl beneath their mustaches. While little girls wave and smile, old women glare and give us what B calls "the stink eye."

I wonder what this change from gleeful children to glowering adults is all about. "Isn't that how it works everywhere?" B asks. I suppose it does. But here it seems more pronounced. I wonder if it is a generational thing--the young have more opportunities now or are more welcoming of Westerners? Or perhaps the responsibilities of the adults in India are somewhat spirit-crushing. So many relatives to feed, so hard to earn so few rupees. Or perhaps it is cultural--you have fun when you are young, then you became a man, a husband, a woman, a wife, and there is no more time for fun.

B comments later, "Of course the kids are happy here. You can run wherever you like. No one tells you to stop or be careful. The whole city is your playground. You don't have to wash for days. You have lots of siblings and friends and you parents aren't around. It doesn't seem like kids are in school much. You fly a kite, you chase a cow. What's not to like?"